All Along the Watchtower: The Thief
by Knightfall1138
Summary: Kaidan Alenko's first mission outside of Jump Zero ends in tragedy, but it just might carry him towards a friendship that won't soon be broken.
1. Prelude: Death Begins With You

* * *

Mass Effect: "All Along The Watchtower – The Thief"

Prelude – Death Begins With You

* * *

_**-Seven Years Ago-**_

In the classroom of Blue Team, deep within in the space facility known as _Jump Zero_, Kaidan Alenko biotically manipulated a glass of mineral water up to his mouth and took only a small sip. He knew that he had to make it last until their next exercise. Drinking the whole thing at once never helped in the long run, and he only recently discovered this through trial and error.

The twelve students of Blue Team were sat down in the classroom with their hands tied beneath their desks. In front of each of them were a pen and a sheet of paper. It had been a long three months since their instructor prohibited the use of their arms for common tasks like writing, eating, and training in the weight room. He called it stability training, saying that mindless, brute force can move a mountain, but only a stable mind can thread a needle—which all of the students hoped was just a metaphor.

For six hours a day, the children were instructed to use their biotics exclusively to write the random, yet spiritually discouraging, phrases their teacher could come up with.

Their phrase for the day: _I am the quiet in the room._

"You should be improving, not getting worse." Commander Mathran Vyrnnus initiated his bi-hourly hazing of his students. This was predictable in a sense, but the students could never foresee exactly how he'd act during these times. "If I can give your species credit in any field, it's your inane sense of adaptability. You're like a constantly mutating virus. When you lose your right arm, you learn to use your left. When you lose your eyes, you see with your hands. When you lose your legs, you push yourself to move again. It's commendable, but ultimately pointless.

"I've read so many selected works from your archives pertaining to your race's history. Every major advancement for your people came as a result of war. You're almost defined by it. Even the Prothean technology you discovered on your Martian settlement came _after_ the conflict to claim majority colonization rights. You take on these gargantuan tasks during one generation that the second generation has to finish. It seems so futile for what you've become. Do any of your leaders ever ask what the point of it all is?"

No one replied.

"Exactly." Vyrnnus began moving through the rows of desks. "You just continue without question. Mindlessly toiling along, hoping to find some sort of meaningful place in the galaxy. You keep looking to find the final frontier that your ancient explorers hoped to claim, but you never stopped to think that maybe someone else had gotten there before you.

"What's left for you to do?"

On the other end of the room, Rahna Kaster winced with pain as she tried to manipulate a glass of water up to her mouth. The cup wouldn't budge. Giving up, she loosened the ropes around her wrists and grabbed the glass. Just as the first drop wetted her tongue, a cold grip wrapped around her arm. She turned to find her instructor standing over her.

"Maybe you missed the point of this exercise," Vyrnnus scolded the girl. "I had you tie your hands together for a reason."

She started to tear up. "I'm sorry, Commander, sir, but…it's my head. It hurts so bad. I couldn't lift the glass to get a drink."

The turian didn't look the least bit empathetic. "Don't presume to think you know your limits. I'm the only one in this room that has walked this path and lived. A _cabal_, my kind calls me. The fist of Palaven. Only I know how far you can go, and only I can tell you when you've had enough."

Without looking away from Rahna's terrified gaze, Vyrnnus brought girl's arm up, and down onto the edge of the desk. Her arm snapped in two on impact.

Rahna screamed and fell to the floor, clutching her broken arm. Pens all over the room dropped from the air as the teammates immediately lost their focus.

"This will be a great learning experience, human!" Vyrnnus bellowed through his laughter. "It wasn't pain that provoked you to disobey me, it was temptation! I've removed that from you now. You should thank me!"

"Leave her alone!" Kaidan was on his feet before he realized what he had done. An innate sense of conformity had been impressed on him over his three year stay on Jump Zero, and that part of him shouted in his mind to let all of this go. But that voice, so loud before, was nothing more than a murmur now.

Vyrnnus turned away from the girl to face Kaidan. He strolled forward, unyielding. "You should sit back down, boy—or I promise you that the pain you will experience will be so great that you'll beg me to let you step-out."

Kaidan recognized that tone of voice. It was the same shallow warning that the turian had bestowed upon their classmate, Dante Graves, two years ago. It brought forth the memory of painful loss, and only persuaded Kaidan to stand his ground. "This has gone far enough. It's been three years, like Branson said. Our training is over, and I'm taking my team home."

"Ha!" The turian seemed genuinely amused. "Well doesn't this sound familiar? Listen, human, you should have known that the staff here was quite unprepared with what could've gone wrong here. That's the whole reason I was brought here in the first place. So, I'm sorry to tell you that you're very wrong in this matter. I'll need at least another two years from you before you're even fit to walk in a crowd."

Vyrnnus continued. "Anyways, I understand that after those younger human children died, Captain Branson shot himself out of an airlock. He's probably still trying to catch up with the coffins even as we speak."

Kaidan shook his head as his eyes pooled with tears. "That's not true!" he shouted. "That's impossible!"

"Maybe it's not true. Maybe I'm lying! Maybe he's still lounging around somewhere on the station. The point is that you don't know. You don't know anything here. I am the only one here who can help you, like it or not. You are the blind, and I am the pathfinder—leading you to your final destination by my favor."

Without warning, Vyrnnus tackled Kaidan into a desk, landing on the boy with full force. From his boot, he pulled a short, curved dagger and pressed it up against the boy's throat. Kaidan tried to push the arm away, but it inched closer and closer until it drew blood.

"This will be your end," Vyrnnus explained indifferently. "This will be _your_ final destination. Admit it, boy, this is what you've always wanted. I remember the first day I came to this class. I could tell by the look in your eyes that you had given up a long time ago. Whatever was left was just going through the motions."

Vyrnnus pressed in harder. "Why don't you let me put an end to your torment? Let me free that broken soul of yours."

Gripped by the pain of the blade, Kaidan could only stare into his attacker's eyes—afraid.

The turian grinned, satisfied that his offering of an exit was denied. "Have a pleasant flight, boy."

Time stood still in that moment. The collective emotions of years long gone and friends long buried flooded his mind. They flickered in front of him faster than he could process it all. It tortured him more than the dagger at his throat, and he used everything within him to push it all away.

"NO!" Kaidan unleashed a wave of concentrated dark energy directly into Vyrnnus' head. Whatever protection the turian had been using to protect him before shattered with a sharp ringing noise, and his neck twisted around completely in the ensuing concussion.

Vyrnnus' body flew violently across the classroom and into the poster-covered wall, denting the steel with his body on impact. The turian crumpled to the ground like a rag doll, with dark blue blood pouring out of his mouth and icy blue eyes. Before everyone could properly take in the scene, the Spanish poster overhead floated delicately over Vyrnnus' lifeless form—the words across it reading: _"La muerte comienza con usted."_


	2. In Cold Irons Hellbound

* * *

Mass Effect: "All Along The Watchtower – The Thief"

Chapter One – In Cold Irons Hellbound

* * *

_**-Present Day-**_

_**November 23, 2173**_

All the morale speeches and all the stims in the galaxy couldn't have helped Kaidan Alenko relax, and he had indulged in both. The craft in which he had become entombed shook with such violence that his spine began to ache as he tried to keep himself steady in his seat.

The other soldiers around him were deep in prayer, meditation, or a fit of silence. He didn't know any of them in the smallest sense—nothing beyond their last names that had been tagged on the shoulders of their suits. There was a part of him that wanted to know _something_ about these men and women before the drop. He didn't like a story going untold.

He knew that feeling all too well.

_"One minute to drop,"_ the pilot's voice echoed through the comm system in their helmets. _"Ready weapons and check life support. God be with you."_

The Captain of the squad spoke up when the channel was clear. "Remember, maggots, we're getting dropped in the middle of the outpost. Run fast and dig deep! Make sure you find cover before the bastards gun you down, because they'll certainly be trying their damndest!"

No one had any reservations as to what the fight would eventually become. A group of pirates had seized a small mining operation on Quana, an ice world in the Theseus System of the Attican Beta Cluster. The planet had a reputation for its freezing temperatures, long days and, most recently, a very healthy supply of cobalt—a metal that had risen in value since the Systems Alliance began the expansion of their fleet. Since it was a necessary component of thruster manifolds, many were going out of their way to get their hands on some.

These pirates were a few of such philanthropists, though the Systems Alliance would argue the extent of their "charitable" acquisitions.

"Make for any hatch you can find," the Captain continued. "We won't be able to take the outpost sitting in the middle of the courtyard. Any chance we have is going to involve taking the fight indoors. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" the squad hollered back.

Kaidan went over the drop movements in his head once more. Head down. Hand to gun. Run for cover.

Head down. Hand to gun. Run for cover.

The drill instructors would continuously recite horror stories of men who would recover from a drop and freeze, only to be gunned down by the enemy without ever firing a shot in return. The mantra had been burned into his squad's mind to keep the same thing from happening to them. He wasn't sure how grateful he should be for such information.

A red light flashed on in the cabin and an alarm screeched through the soldiers' helmets.

_"We're coming in hot! Hang on!"_ The ship suddenly jolted around, throwing one of the soldiers out of his station. He slid along the metal paneling until he was able to drag himself back up into his pod. The soldier was all shivers afterwards.

"Damn it, Jenkins!" the Captain shouted, spittle collecting on the inside of his helmet. "Try to at least make it to the surface!"

The soldier nodded slightly. "Aye, sir."

The ship began to level out, and the shaking dulled to a slight rumble. Kaidan and the rest of the squad braced for what could come next.

_"…contact!"_ The pilot's voice over the comm was muffled in static. _"…under fire…much longer…DROP! DROP! DROP!"_

A high pitched noise flooded the squad's comm channel and the mechanical whirring of the exit procedure began.

"I'm with you all," the Captain said. It was the first time any of the soldiers had heard the man calm. "Live forever, apes!"

The bottom dropped out of each of the pods, sending the soldiers slipping out through the hull and out into the frigid atmosphere of Quana. Kaidan screamed, flailing around in midair as he plummeted towards the outpost below. His heart rate increased, forcing a red light to flicker on his heads-up display in his visor. Around him, he could see other members of his squad dropping alongside him, some of them more reserved than others.

Despite the sheer terror that Kaidan was feeling as he fell, not one ounce of regret intruded on his mindset. He had wanted to serve in the Alliance Navy, no matter what that could mean—and he still held that close.

With frost and mist whipping around him, and the ground closing in fast, he finally got a grip on his emotions and the red light on his HUD disappeared.

Twenty meters.

Kaidan crossed his arms in front of him, as his training began flooding back. There was no reason he should be feeling this kind of fear, he had done this simulation dozens of times. Over and over, proper form, proper breathing, proper thoughts. It all added up. If one wasn't careful, going into shock during the descent was bound to happen.

Ten meters.

Bullets began whizzing past. He didn't focus on those, though. He couldn't. Not at this time, he was so close.

Five meters.

Eyes open. Arms out.

The d-pack on Kaidan's back activated, shooting out a concentrated dose of plasma downwards and slowing his descent drastically. His body began to tense up and his stomach churned as he fell slower, and slower, until…

He felt the ground beneath his feet, and the snow exploded in a hail of gunfire. There was no time to look around, he ran straight ahead, hoping none of the bullets his enemies had was meant for him. Luckily, there were a pile of shipping containers stacked up against the outpost wall. A few of his squadmates were already packed in behind it.

"Come on, Alenko!" one of them shouted into the comm. "Jenkins, double time!"

Suddenly, a body came flying downwards right in front of Kaidan. It was Jenkins. He slipped around on the snow and tried to catch his footing, but by the way he was shaking, Kaidan knew the man was too panicked to do anything.

"Hold on, let me help you!" Kaidan said, trying to pull Jenkins to his feet. "It's just a bit further!"

The two men trudged through the snow. Little plumes of frost shot up all around them as the pirates on the walls tried to gun them down.

"I don't wanna die here!" Jenkins shouted. "I don't wanna die!"

Kaidan did his best to keep the man moving. "Calm down. Calm down. We're here! Look!"

As Jenkins looked up, a bullet caught him in his visor, shattering the protective glass around his face. He hardly had time to look surprised as the negative one-hundred and forty degree centigrade atmosphere shock frosted every ounce of water in his body. His form froze in mid-stride, as still as a statue, before tipping over and slamming into one of the shipping crates. The man's head exploded in a crystalline shower that rained over the squad.

"Oh, God." Kaidan tipped over into the snow, trying to kick himself away from the body he had just carried. He felt arms loop around his chest. His squadmates were pulling him back behind cover.

"What were you doing freezing up like that, Alenko?!" a soldier asked. All Kaidan could do was point to Jenkins' corpse. "Forget about him, man. He's gone. You gotta start worrying about yourself now."

Now that he was safely concealed from all the gunfire, Kaidan had a chance to properly survey his surroundings. The squad was effectively pinned behind the crates on the westernmost part of the facility. Around them, high metallic border walls with a gunman posted at each corner—all of them keeping their rifles aimed at the soldiers. Towards the northern section lay the science facility itself, nearly covered in half a meter of snow, though Kaidan guessed that most of the base rested below ground.

Looking closer, he could see a few pirates standing at the entrance of the facility. When he saw sparks fly, he knew the men were trying to cut their way in. He was puzzled as to how none had been able to make it inside yet.

"Where's the Captain?!" Kaidan shouted above the wind and the gunfire.

"He's gone, Alenko," one of the soldiers said, shaking his head.

Another spoke up. "Bastards shot him out of the sky while he was still dropping."

Hearing the words of his fellow soldiers, everything suddenly got the volume turned down. Their situation was a difficult thing to slam into and keep running confidently. Their Captain, the man they had been training with for months, their reluctant guiding light, was gone. The main lesson the man had impressed upon the squad was to follow his orders and everything would be find in the end.

What now? Kaidan drew a blank.

A sniper bolt punctured the crate only a few centimeters away from his head. He scooted back into better cover and thought through their ordeal. No one else, including the First Officer, was giving any alternatives, so Kaidan figured he'd start things off.

"Alright. Someone get on the comm with the transport. Tell him we need immediate evac as soon as he can give it."

"We can't abandon the mission, Alenko," the First Officer finally said. "We still have our objective."

"The intelligence we were given was flawed in the greatest sense! We're outnumbered, outgunned and the enemy has us covered on all fronts. Our objective is lost, Hicks." Kaidan took the man by the shoulder. "We're not losing any more men over a mineral shipment."

The First Officer, Hicks, mumbled a few things to himself, as if trying to find a good argument, but in the end he simply drew a blank.

The communications officer took this has his cue. "Two-Zero to transport. I'm reporting a code eleven, mission aborted. We need pick-up ASAP."

Following a bout of static, a voice finally replied. _"Has the situation changed on the surface, Two-Zero?"_

"Negative, this place crawls, over."

The squad had to wait much longer for a reply. _"Two-Zero, the LZ is too hot. Reinforcements have been called in to wipe the area. Until then, you're going to have to ride it out. I'm sorry."_

Everyone went pale rather quickly.

"What the hell does he mean by that?" the communications officer asked.

"It means were stuck here until reinforcements arrive," Hicks replied.

"Well, that's a brilliant plan," a soldier said. "Send us in here without the tools to get the job done and then us to wait around with our heads up our asses. Yeah, let's do that."

"How long did it take us to get out here?" asked Kaidan.

Hicks sighed. "Hours."

"Think we can hunker down here for the duration?"

"Not if these pirates get tired of taking potshots at us. With one RPG they could take us all out." Hicks rubbed the back of his helmet nervously. "I think they're just playing with us. It'll only be a matter of time before they get tired of it…"

As the First Officer spoke, a loud engine noise tore through the air and vibrated the very environment suits the soldiers stood in. Out beyond the eastern wall, a heavily armed attack ship rose up into the air. All around, the pirates began to jump up and down, wave their arms around, and fire their guns into the air in celebration.

The ship angled its nose down towards the crates where the soldiers hid.

"That didn't take long…" Kaidan said.

A chain gun on the front of the vessel lit up and began ripping into the shipping crates. Metal fragments and filings flew all over the place. The soldiers did their best to find the most fortified position, but a few of them had already been taken out by ricochets.

Hicks wasn't sure what to do anymore. He did his best to hold back tears of fright and began shouting random orders into the comm. It all fell on deaf ears in the ensuing chaos. Kaidan was packed into a corner with his fellow soldiers. He watched as many of them were felled and shattered to bits under the frozen atmosphere.

There was nowhere to run or hide. They were cornered and boxed in with the body count rising every time Kaidan blinked. There was nothing he could possibly do…but he knew this to be a lie. Maybe it was fear to confront his abilities again, or maybe he had actually talked himself into believing that piece of himself didn't exist anymore. There was a part of him that felt whole again after condemning his powers to memory, but on the inside he knew he was still leading a shadow that he'd never be able to completely escape.

_So, what now?_ he thought to himself. Would he condemn himself and his entire squad to death, but pass on with the satisfaction that his demons would remain tentatively buried? Or would he give in completely to that which haunted him the most?

The decision wasn't as difficult as he had perceived it to be.

Without even putting a strain on his implants, a mass effect barrier encapsulated Kaidan's body. He stood up from his cover and confidently walked out into the open, to his squadmate's confusion and horror.

"Kaidan! No!" they screamed, but the man kept walking through the snow as if it was a day to be enjoyed.

The pirate attack ship angled its chain guns down towards Kaidan and the pirates around the outpost broke out into cheers yet again. It opened fire, and the emotions among the inhabitants of the facility ranged from amusement to terror—but all of that came crashing down into silence when everyone found the man still standing.

Kaidan's mass effect field had caught every bullet, and the tiny metallic projectiles floated in front of him like feathers on the breeze. The rest of the pirates unloaded their clips, and the ship continued firing until its chain gun glowed red, but Kaidan hadn't budged an inch.

The bullets hovering in front of Kaidan blocked his vision, so he pushed them out of his line of sight and angled them so that they pointed in all directions _but_ the spot where his comrades hid. The pirates didn't even think to react, they were all absorbed by the scene transpiring in front of them—a few of them even dropped to their knees in prayer.

"This will be your end." Kaidan found his old instructor's words pouring out of his mouth far too easily. "This will be _your_ final destination."

He threw the dark energy field outwards, instantly flinging every bullet that had surrounded him in all directions at the speed of sound. Sparks flew. Debris littered the ground. And every pirate standing was broken into shards of frozen blood and flesh.

With the last of his energy, Kaidan formed another barrier around the attack ship. The vessel's engines exploded into an afterburner, but it couldn't break the field that imprisoned it. With a wave of his hand, Kaidan manipulated the ship downwards onto the facility wall, snapping the ship in two.

The resulting blast threw Kaidan backwards into the snow. The last thing he remembered before blacking out in the frost was the familiar burn of his L2 implants that pulsed through his body.


	3. The Graveyard Bells

* * *

Mass Effect: "All Along The Watchtower – The Thief"

Chapter Two – The Graveyard Bells

* * *

Kaidan was alone in the classroom that seemed to have been branded into his mind. The desk at which he sat was smaller than he remembered. The posters and framed pictures that cluttered the chromed and riveted walls still made no sense. He could hear voices but they were far away, resonating from a memory that he had been trailing behind him like a ball and chain for such a long time—and he felt just as weary from it.

Jump Zero shouldn't have been any sort of place to make friends or live a life of any kind, but he did…_they_ did. Three years of his life were taken from him with hardly a reason or explanation. The only details were in the results, and the results were always ended in death.

He used to hate sleeping. Falling asleep meant sitting in the darkened silence, watching the ghostly images of old, departed friends play along the walls. They always seemed happier than he was. And waking meant dealing with the cold reality of his situation, that there would be no help. That his life didn't belong to him anymore.

"What did you think was going to happen, human?" The voice echoed around the classroom for a longtime before a body faded in to claim it. It was the turian, Commander Vyrnnus, tribal paint and all. He was casually leaned up against a nearby wall with arms crossed and bore an inattentive gaze. "Did you really think your song and dance and your talk about it all being _over_ was going to save you? Did you honestly think you'd have anything to go home to?"

Kaidan shifted around in his desk. "I had to do something. Even if Earth wasn't…You had no right to keep us here."

Vyrnnus shook his head. "It wasn't me that kept the lot of you here, _boy_. Every L2 on Jump Zero was a rabid dog that we caged up from infecting the living. Some died of their disease, while others became stronger for it." His head tilted down towards the man. "But if you really must point fingers, then might I remind you that the only one in the facility with blood on their hands was you."

"You had to be stopped," Kaidan replied, looking in a different direction. "You had gone too far." When his eyes focused in on a different part of the room, the turian's figure appeared there as well.

"Don't try and run from this!" Vyrnnus' form instantly snapped to the man's desk, and his hands slammed down upon it. "You were always trying to escape—mentally, physically. Now that you're out and about in the galaxy, can you honestly tell when the last time you felt at home was?"

Kaidan tried to throw out an answer just to spite the alien, but he couldn't come up with one. Not even a lie.

"I'll tell you when." The turian hopped up and planted himself on Kaidan's desk. "When you were here." He spread out his arms. "When you breathed deep of the world I created for you. A place where that which plagued you counted for something. Where you had friends as close as family. Where you weren't an outcast…"

Vyrnnus gripped Kaidan by the chin, forcing eye contact between them. "Tell me I'm wrong, boy," the turian said as his eyes faded away into a smoke-filled, hollow blackness. "Tell me I'm wrong."

--

Waking from the dream didn't come easy. Kaidan shuffled in and out of consciousness for a time until an alarm rang out in his helmet, _"Caution—Oxygen Reserves At Thirteen Percent. Caution."_ The shock of this warning allowed him to stay awake long enough to analyze his situation…however little he could analyze. His visor was blocked by a bright white layer of frost. He tried to move his arm to wipe it off, but he was pinned in place. Whether it was the weight of the snow or debris that held him there, he didn't know, but he knew he didn't want to be there anymore.

He fought back his wanting to panic and forced slow breaths. The oxygen ticker on his HUD was dwindling by a percentage every few minutes. There was nothing he could do about his movement problem, but at least he could breath, that had to count for _something_.

"This is Alenko," he said into his comm. "Can anyone hear me?" There was only static. His O2 meter dropped another two percent as he spoke. "Damn it!"

Again, he tried thrashing about to see if any of his limbs could be freed. Nothing budged.

_"Caution—Oxygen Reserves At Four Percent."_

_"Caution."_

The digitized voice was as calm as Kaidan wished he could be at that moment. He found that more and more odd as the minutes passed. He was going to die. And he was going to die as a computer's voice announced his closing minutes to him. There was nothing that could be done about that, he supposed. He'd much rather hear some kind of voice than nothing at all when he passed on.

Perhaps this was the end that he was always meant for, but could never embrace. Death seemed to be constantly biting at his heels up at Jump Zero, but he deliberately stayed one step ahead of it. Through all his travels, he was just a day shy or a few meters short of ending up as a space crater. That must be it. Like Vyrnnus always said: The biotics had already been weighed and measured. They were dead as far as the universe was concerned.

Might as well make it official.

_"Caution—Oxygen Reserves Depleted."_

He closed his eyes, but just as he did, an arm reached down from a light above. His throat choked up and his vision blurred. And the hand from above connected an air hose onto the back of Kaidan's tank.

--

Kaidan stood at attention with arms behind his back. He wasn't quite sure where he was, but all he knew was that there was a higher-ranking officer seated behind the desk in front of him. Nothing else in the galaxy mattered as soon as those four stars appeared.

The officer didn't look up from his desk and continued to write on the same datapad that he had gripped in his hand since Kaidan entered the room. He never made eye contact. He never greeted the soldier. The only reaction that he offered was, "One moment, please."

Tempting fate, Kaidan took a look around the room without moving his head. Across the walls, he saw flags, posters and commendations. But off in the corner, seated and red, was Hicks the First Officer. Kaidan was glad to see someone else from his unit, but it didn't appear that the feeling was mutual.

"Ensign Alenko." The four star Admiral stood from his desk and saluted Kaidan, who returned the gesture. "You may be seated, mister." He motioned to the chair in front of the desk that Kaidan had been eyeing the entire time.

"Thank you, sir," Kaidan said and sat as upright as he possibly could.

The Admiral returned to his seat and reclined, staring at the Ensign as he did. There was no sign emotion in the man. "Your squad, they ran into a bit of a tight spot out there in the Theseus System."

When the man stopped talking, Kaidan nodded. "Yes, sir. It got rough out there. Intelligence—"

"Yes, yes, intelligence," said the Admiral, tapping a finger against his chin. "I read the report—both of them, the intel brief and the debrief from the mission—and the discrepancy was, might I say, rather _dramatic_. Trust me when I say that people have already been punished for it." His eyes grew distant. "Though, that's always a moot point after a mission like this."

Kaidan leaned forward. "Sir, if I may? What happened?"

"Our patrol crew only did a top-down scan of the drop site. Their instrumentation wasn't properly calibrated, so nearly two-thirds of those damned pirates went unaccounted for." The Admiral rubbed the top of his bald head. "Your battle was lost before you were ejected from the ship."

"That's not true, sir, and you know it!" Hicks could stay silent no longer. "Alenko is a biotic and consciously withheld the information. At any point during the mission, he could have stepped in and saved us! But he waited until nearly the entire squad had already been gunned down. He watched us get slaughtered! This man deserves to be stripped of his rank and thrown in the brig till his eyes rot out!"

"That is enough!" The Admiral slammed his hands down on his desk, causing the two soldiers in the room to jump. When Hicks obediently returned to his seat, the man continued. "Ensign Alenko did no wrong in this case. He's not a registered biotic with the Navy. He has no special military training for the better use of his powers. The only reason you're alive is by his intervention. If you're not grateful for that, I'll take you port-end and step you out into the dark myself. Are we clear?"

All Hicks could do was nod and murmur, "Yes, sir."

"Good." The Admiral turned to Kaidan. "Alenko, you're due to depart within the hour, so I'll make this brief." He pushed a small box across the desk. Kaidan instinctively took it up and looked inside, finding two silver insignias within. "Congratulations, _Lieutenant_. You did the Alliance proud today. Let us hope your coming missions will much less eventful."


	4. Riders on the Storm

"_We pointed out the way to go and scratched your name in sand,_

_Though you thought it was nothing more than a place for you to stand._

_Now, I want you to know that while we watched, you discover there was no one true._

_Most everybody really thought it was a childish thing to do._

_Tears of rage, Tears of grief._

_Why must I always be the thief?"_

-Bob Dylan "Tears of Rage"

* * *

Mass Effect: "All Along The Watchtower – The Thief"

Chapter Three – Riders on the Storm

* * *

The tension in Kaidan's muscles told him that the gravity on the station was more intense than he was used to. He hadn't made it a habit to spend much time on a space station of any kind—not even the Citadel felt comfortable after a day—and he had even requested a transfer off of one during basic training. The structures simply brought back too many bad memories that weren't worth reliving.

He didn't let those thoughts get in the way of what had to be done, though. Orders were orders. If the higher-ups wanted him on Arcturus Station, then the only question available to him to ask would be, "Want me outside the hull or inside?" There really was nothing that could be done about it, no matter how much he'd rather be planetside.

After rounding an oddly-illuminated statue of the great Jon Grissom, and wandering through one corridor after another, Kaidan found himself in the waiting room for Captain Bryant's office. He found it amusing that this man had his own waiting room, even though it was, in fact, only populated by himself and a bored secretary. The lady didn't even notice Kaidan enter until he was standing directly in front of the desk.

"Oh!" The secretary put down a nail file and straightened her uniform a bit. "Good afternoon! How can I help you, sir?"

"I'm here to see a Captain Bryant," he said. "I'm under orders, if that makes any sort of difference."

"Ah, I'm sure it won't," the woman said, matter-of-factly. "He's very busy at the moment. So, if you'd just take a seat, I'll let you know when he can see you."

"Okay…" Kaidan caught himself before turning away. "Do you need my name or anything?"

The secretary pulled her hand away from the nail file again, which had almost magically reappeared in her grip. "Absolutely, I can take your name."

"It's Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, ma'am. I guess…I'll be right over there." Suddenly, the waiting room wasn't all that amusing anymore.

He leaned back in his chair—it was comfy, at least—and he began to almost drift off. The ride out to Arcturus Station hadn't been the most pleasant of trips. He couldn't remember ever being on such a cramped ship with so much going on. And with a Mass Relay jump almost every hour, on the hour, rest was hard to come by.

When Kaidan found his vision of the floor begin to blur, he heard the door into the waiting room. He didn't even bother to take notice and continued on letting himself fall asleep. But when he heard a metallic clacking noise move past him, he couldn't help but see what was making it.

A man was standing at the receptionist's desk. He sported the typical Systems Alliance uniform, with the exception of a blue cap, which seemed out of place given the dress code on the station. His face was rugged with a red-brown goatee taking shape around his mouth, and his arms were very defined. Kaidan assumed this was on account of the crutches that the man leaned upon, which existed because of the metal braces across his legs.

Feeling embarrassed about how long he had been staring at the crippled man, he turned his attention back to the floor.

"Good afternoon!" the receptionist greeted, loudly enough to make Kaidan jump. "Can I help you?"

The man with the crutches also seemed started at the welcoming. It was a moment before he said anything. "Hey," he finally said. "I'm Flight Lieutenant Jo—" He stopped to cough briefly. "Jeff Moreau. I got an appointment with Captain Bryant."

The receptionist thumbed a button on her desk to turn on a computer screen, and she brought up what looked to be a list. Kaidan wondered why she hadn't provided him with the same courtesy. "Joe…Joe," she murmured as she went down the list. "Oh, I see. Well here you are! You're a little early!"

"Yeah…" The Lieutenant angled a thumb back towards the center of the waiting room. "I'll just wait here." He turned away from the desk and took a few steps into the room, his eyes moving across the various propaganda posters that covered the wall. Most were old relics from as far back as the First Contact War, directing prospective enlistees to "Take Back The Galaxy!"

Kaidan watched as the man with the crutches began pacing around the room. He was intrigued by this, but was more curious as to why the man was in the room with him. He assumed that maybe he was a part of the "special unit" that the Commander had mentioned, though he couldn't even begin to think of what this meant.

Deciding a little conversation might be pleasant, he looked over to his fellow prisoner of the waiting room. "So, what did they drag you in for?"

The Lieutenant stopped pacing and his eyes narrowed into a sneer. "Yeah, great to meet you, too," he snapped. "Nice sideburns."

Flustered, Kaidan went back over what he had said to the man, trying to figure out if he had said anything insulting. "Did I...? I'm sorry." He shrunk back into his seat. The Lieutenant seemed annoyed, though Kaidan couldn't quite tell what got to him. After a moment, he moved over to the nearby wall and eased himself back onto it.

When Kaidan gathered his courage again, he decided to press his luck and try talking to man again. "I'm not exactly sure what I'm here for either way. Just thought I'd…" His voice trailed off when he realized he wasn't getting a reaction from the man. He thought that maybe it would be best if he didn't bother him anymore.

But the Lieutenant spoke up. "Yeah, I got a meeting with Captain Takes-His-Time in here," he said. "Smart money says it's a job interview."

Kaidan smiled. It had been awhile since he had heard anything resembling humor. "So, what _did_ you do to make them reel you in here?"

The man snorted. "Ninety-nine percent flight record," he said, beaming. "How about you?"

"I ruined someone else's." Kaidan wasn't trying to be funny, so he was surprised when he heard the Lieutenant laugh a bit under his breath.

"Oh…kay, so what do you do?" the man asked. "Soldier?"

Kaidan almost told him, and he really wanted to. After all, when was the last time anyone asked him a personal question that wasn't related to some kind of report write-up? But he held back. No sense in telling this stranger his life's story. "No offense, I just don't make it a habit of talking about it. If I had my way, I wouldn't be anywhere near here."

The man bit his lip, looking a bit annoyed. Kaidan wondered if the Lieutenant thought he was crazy after that little spiel. But the man continued, patiently asking, "What's with the long face? Don't you ever smile?"

Kaidan looked around the room, unsure if the man was joking about their situation. "What's there to smile about?"

The Lieutenant nodded. "Yeah, I hear that."

By the man's tone, Kaidan guessed that there was a bit of truth to that statement. It was then that he figured that he should be a bit more upfront with the stranger. "They brought me in because I'm an L2."

The man raised a brow. "Biotic?"

"Yeah…" Kaidan replied flatly.

"So, that means what? You're better than L3s?"

This surprised Kaidan. "L3s?"

"Uh…yeah," the man said. "You know? The new guys? They don't get seizures? I thought you guys were all…up in arms about it?"

Kaidan shrugged. "I didn't know we were up in arms about anything."

"Soldiers don't watch news vids, huh?" the Lieutenant teased.

"I guess not," Kaidan replied. "Apparently we make them."

The two of them laughed. It was hard not to, the room was becoming more of a bore by the second, and their reactions were a subconscious agreement of this fact.

Kaidan reached out his hand. "Kaidan Alenko."

The man shook back. "Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau…call me Joker."

"_Joker_ does seem a lot easier to say."

Joker grinned and his eyes fluttered as he said, "Yeah, and it fits my warm and fuzzy personality, too." He turned back to Kaidan. "You got anything shorter than _Kaidan Alenko_?"

The biotic was taken aback by this. "Kaidan?" he replied innocently.

"I'll take _Alenko_," Joker replied with an amused snort.

"Alright…" Kaidan wasn't going to fight him on it. Not that he knew exactly what his new acquaintance had been talking about.

The natural discussion between them faded and they were met, once again, with the mind-numbing dullness of the waiting room. Joker moved over to the center of the room again, but this time facing Kaidan. He sat in place, shifting his weight back and forth rhythmically between his crutches.

Kaidan noticed that the Lieutenant's eyes were focusing in on something on the wall at his back. Before he could ask what he was staring at it, Joker read whatever he was looking at aloud.

_"La muerte comienza con usted?"_

And then it happened.

The words were a shock through Kaidan's system. They tore out images and voices from his time at Jump Zero out from his mind and forced them before his eyes. When he heard Vyrnnus' laugh somewhere in the room, he jumped to his feet and threw up a barrier of dark energy on impulse to protect himself.

The whole scene spooked Joker, causing him to lose his balance and slip back off of his crutches. His full weight landed on his right leg. The snap that it made brought Kaidan out of his shock instantly. He looked down just in time to watch Joker's other leg break at an angle just under his left knee. The man screamed loudly into the room and his face with bright red.

Kaidan quickly rushed to his side. "Oh, God," he said. "Are you alright?" He felt silly for asking that particular question, especially when he was confronted by Joker's screams.

"Jesus! Ah, Jesus!" Joker's words shot through gritted teeth and his hands were clenched just above his wounds. He looked up to Kaidan. "You asshole!"

The biotic ignored the swears and picked Joker up off the ground. As carefully as he could managed, he placed the man in a chair, trying to make him as comfortable as possible. Afterwards, the biggest struggle was trying to think of any words he could offer that wouldn't be meaningless.

"I'm…" Kaidan struggled. He didn't know what to do anymore. "I'm so sorry."

Ignoring the apologies, Joker turned towards the receptionist, who had frozen in place during the entire incident. "Call the hospital," he shouted. "Or…_sickbay _or whatever the hell…_Jesus!"_ He took a few calming breaths before continuing. "The Navy's gotta have some medi-gel lying around somewhere!"

Kaidan felt horrible. He repeated the line that he had already fed his injured acquaintance so many times already. "I'm so sorry." He almost said it again when the man cut him off.

"It's…" Joker cringed for a moment. "It's alright." He was finally able to say it. "It's alright."

Now Kaidan felt exhausted. He shamefully took a seat next to Joker, who gave an irritated thumbs-up when the receptionist let them know the medics were on their way.

"On any other day, I'd have turned you into shine matter," Joker threatened as he exhaled.

Kaidan was tired enough to say what was on his mind, but he regretted it immediately. "You'd probably have to catch me first." He went wide-eyed and waited for some terrible reaction from the man sitting next to him. He had already shattered the man's legs, one more word to their superior officer would more than likely mean a court marshal.

But, to his surprise, Joker did no such thing. The Lieutenant smiled quite suddenly, and laughed has hard as he could manage with the pain still present in his legs. Kaidan nervously joined in, still not quite sure what they were laughing about, but doing so with the knowledge that everything was going to be just fine between them.

"You're brave, Alenko," Joker chuckled. "You're brave."

The two of them sat there in silence, looking straight ahead but smiling to themselves. As they took in the events of that strange meeting, they recognized the beginning of a friendship. It felt somehow alien to Kaidan, but he hoped they had been called to the captain's office for the same reason. When the medics finally arrived and began to move Joker to the infirmary, Kaidan followed.

-

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**_A/N - Thanks for reading! This has been the second part of a two part prequel story. You can find the first part, entitled "All Along the Watchtower: The Joker" on Mister Buch's profile. Additionally, this prequel story will lead into our main collaborative fanfic, "All Along the Watchtower", which will also be posted on Mister Buch's profile as soon as it's completed! You can find a link to his profile on my page! Thanks!_**


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